Plus this photo is just so colorful and happy, no?

I’ve been reaching a lot lately.  I think we’re always reaching for that next step.  The eagerness of this little girl’s reach drew my attention.

You can find his guidelines and suggestions here.  Spread a little beauty around your blog this week.

My first search was rainbows.  What resulted was this:

The photographer took this after a storm that soaked him through, he knew that would be the case but waited for the photo anyway.  The patience for this shot is astounding and it paid off.

The photo captures my love of storms and rainbows.  I’ve spent a lot of my life living near fields like this and watching thunderstorms roar through.  The double bows are light that hope shines through.

It captures a piece of my childhood memories with some beautiful imagery.

As a personal assistant, it’s not uncommon to help people sort out their email process at the beginning of our working relationship. So I left a comment full of tips to help her get started in sorting out her inbox so she wasn’t feeling so “like climbing Mount Everest”.

Editor’s Note: These tips are primarily for Gmail users, but with a few tweaks they can work for Outlook, Mail, or any other program/webmail you use. Have questions? Email me.

You are not alone.

There are many people that are behind you and need the same help! Here’s some good tips I can give as a virtual assistant/project manager.

1. If you use FF3, download Better Gmail 2 and activate Folders4Gmail. Use this to create a list of folders that collapses.

2. Start with general labels, then add in specifics. I do Clients -> Client name. (Sounds like you’ve gotten so far on that, the collapsing should make it easier to see.)

3. Archive everything more than 2 weeks old. Just DO this. Don’t think about it, don’t worry about it, just do it. Gmail will save it to be searched if you need it, but you probably won’t.

4. Once you’ve gotten the old stuff out, focus on getting the rest cleared. Be ruthless, delete, archive and label pages quickly. How?

Change your Gmail settings to show 100 emails on each page, then use the Gmail keyboard shortcuts to first mark everything that can be deleted.

One round trip through all the emails to delete. Back to the first page and then another round trip to archive everything you don’t need to see or put on a to do list.

5. Once you’re down to the emails you need to act on, act on them. Respond to anything that will take less than 2 minutes. Delegate anything that will take longer to a to do list. Archive them as you go. (Another trick? Use the Send and Archive button for Gmail, Gmail Settings -> Labs -> Send and Archive.)

6. After you’ve gotten this organized, stick with the routine. Get into the habit of checking email, archive, respond as necessary, add to dos as necessary and keep the inbox clear as possible.

I currently do all of the above and have done so for clients to get them organized so they can move forward with a new email process. The first steps are paralyzing until they’re done.

Try these things and see if it helps. Also, as an aside, I enjoy OmniFocus and BatchBook but you can use any project manager to keep track of the to do list.

Please don’t crucify yourself if you have 10 or so emails in your inbox. Inbox zero isn’t the ultimate goal here, taking away the stress of looking at your inbox is.

No one needs to use Better Gmail or Folders4Gmail or FF3 or any of the tools I mentioned above.

If you look at your inbox and think “How am I supposed to get all this done?” or find yourself procrastinating after you send a few emails, then it’s time to take charge.

Here’s the thing, I know my readers are probably at least a little familiar with Inbox Zero and Getting Things Done, but let’s remember, the world is not going to end if you leave 5 or so emails in your inbox for attention now and then. Promise.

I’ll also buy you a beer if you find that you don’t feel better after taking the 6 steps above.

Okay, so put down the blog post, open your inbox, take a deep breath. Ready? Go!

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Disclosure: I’m co-founder of sbbuzz with Pamela O’Hara and Michelle Riggen-Ransom of BatchBlue Software.

A few months ago, small business owner Whitney (@wald12) came to Michelle and Pam for advice on how to get started with technology and social media for her business. Brilliantly inspired by #journchat, they created a chat for small business owners weekly on Twitter.

SBBuzz not only covers the blogging, Twitter and social media efforts of small business owners, but has had some interesting guests to talk about business plans, small town small biz and cashflow. Every week, more small business owners join in the conversation to find out the answer to their questions.

If you are a small business owner looking for answers on anything technology or you already have a lot answers and can share them with a great community of people, please join in Tuesdays at 8 pm EST. You can find out more about how to participate at http://sbbuzz.biz

Eventually if the host is really bad, you reach the point where enough is enough. Maybe because of GoDaddy’s Super Bowl ads or the Network Solutions deal to switch was too sweet to pass up after the controversy.  Either way, you’re ready to make the move, but reading the Wordpress instructions makes you want to hide under the covers.  Here’s some hints that’ll make it easier. (Note: This assumes that you have purchased hosting with the new company you want to move to.)

So what’s my trick?

Ask your new web host company to move your database tables for you. We are not all geeks, sometimes we need help.  You are a new customer and most companies love helping you get set up as a thanks for purchasing their service. Sure you can figure out how to do it on your own, but having the hosting company do it for you saves you time and maybe (probably) frustration.

Install  the WP DB Backup plugin and use it religiously. After you install the plugin, go to Tools -> Backup.  After backing up, make sure to schedule additional backups on a daily or weekly basis.  If your database gets deleted, you’ll always have a updated copy.  See below on the backup steps.

Backup your blog. In detail, you need to export your Wordpress blog by going to your Dashboard -> Tools -> Export.  I was going to make screenshots, but Chris Penn already has “How to Backup Your Wordpress Blog in 60 seconds”.

Backup the actual Wordpress files. Load up your favorite FTP program and download the blog or Wordpress folder/files.  Whatever subdirectory your blog sets on, back it up.  Put these in a clearly labeled website backup folder (ex. chelpixie wordpress backup).

If this is too confusing using a FTP program like CyberDuck, then you can also do this from your hosting Control Panel, but it’s a lot easier using the FTP program.  If you need help on how to setup an FTP program, search your hosting help files.  Most hosting companies put together a tutorial on how to set them up.

These steps will help make the move go easier.  If you need your files, you’ll already have copies ready to go. Having backups in case you need them in the future, almost thought free.

Do you have any tips to make Wordpress moves or backing up easier?  Leave them in the comments!

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(Oh and check out his live in Boston show at All Asia Cafe on June 11, 2009, 7 PM EDT.

Podcamp Boston 4 is taking a different focus this year!

A lot of us attend conferences to find out what’s new, meet new people (networking FTW!) and get our questions answered.  What are the questions that you need answers to? This year, that’s the idea.  Learn what audio tool is best, how to put together a video podcast, what the heck is Twitter or the best tools for blogging?  Any question, get the answer.

It doesn’t matter your level of skill or involvement in podcasting and/or social media, there’s bound to be someone here that can help you find the answer while we explore what’s next in podcasting and social media.

Podcamp Boston 4, August 8-9, 2009 at University of Mass. Boston.  It’s simple, register and ask and learn.

To celebrate Small Business Week, Batchblue chose to hold the 2nd annual Small Business Super Hero contest this week.  All you have to do is go visit the Super Hero page and fill out the form nominating yourself or someone else as a small business super hero, share their powers and type 200 words about how you or they save the world or battle the forces of economies evils every day.

The prizes?

Books, MailChimp credits, Batchbook accounts, JetBlue gift card, moo business cards and 6 free months of Shoeboxed are just some of the prizes you can win (or win for someone else).  It’s quick and easy and a great chance to reward yourself or someone else for being a small business super hero in a time when the world needs you.

(Disclaimer: I work for Batchblue but wasn’t paid for this post and am helping judge entries. I love the company and thought my readers could use a little super hero love and Friday fun!)

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Want to take social media to the next level for your business?  Scratching your head over Twitter?

What do you need?  When you think about tasks you can delegate, what comes to mind?

What do I do?  I consult on social media and do a mean web dev and Wordpress theme customization.  That’s not all though. I also help people save time, energy and money by taking on tasks that tie them up.  Need to get untangled?